Pie Charts: Energy Sources 2000 vs 2020 Report (Band 9)
Band-9 Task 1 report comparing energy-source pie charts across two years, with change vocabulary and share-shift structure.
The pie charts show the share of energy from different sources in 2000 and 2020. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features.
Band-9 sample report
The charts trace a twenty-year shift from coal dominance toward gas and renewables, with fossil fuels retreating but remaining major.
Overall, coal collapsed from the largest share to third place, while natural gas became the leading source and renewables tripled. Oil held roughly steady; nuclear and hydro barely moved.
In 2000, coal supplied 38% of energy — more than a third — against oil's 30% and gas's 20%. Renewables contributed a marginal 6%, with nuclear and hydro splitting the remaining 6% evenly. Fossil fuels collectively commanded nearly nine-tenths of supply.
By 2020 the hierarchy had inverted. Gas led at 32%, oil eased to 28%, and coal plummeted to 18% — less than half its former share. Renewables surged to 16%, approaching coal itself, while nuclear and hydro stayed frozen at 3% each. Fossil fuels still supplied over three-quarters, but their composition shifted decisively from solid to gaseous.
The story is transition, not transformation: renewables grew fastest in relative terms yet remain fourth in absolute share, and coal's collapse mostly benefited gas rather than green sources. Decarbonization has begun; dominance has merely changed fuels.
(198 words)
Why this scores Band 9
Task Achievement (9): Overview names the three defining moves (coal collapse, gas leadership, renewables tripling) plus the fossil-persistence caveat. Every slice tracked across time with starting and ending shares.
Coherence & Cohesion (9): Source-by-source tracking replaces pie-by-pie repetition; 2000-baseline then 2020-change structure is clean. "Collectively/frozen" language handles aggregates efficiently.
Lexical Resource (9): Share-shift precision: "collapsed," "plummeted," "surged," "eased," "held steady," "frozen." Varied fractions and percentages ("more than a third," "nine-tenths").
Grammatical Range & Accuracy (9): Contrast clauses, participial phrases, parallel structures. Exact.
Vocabulary to steal
- trace a shift — show change over time
- retreating but remaining — decline without disappearance
- hierarchy inverted — order reversed
- plummeted / surged / eased — movement verb range
- transition, not transformation — partial-change distinction
- changed fuels, not dominance — insightful close
FAQs
How do I compare two pies without repeating myself?
Track each source across time in one pass: coal fell from X to Y while gas rose. Source-by-source tracking replaces pie-by-pie description.
What if some slices barely change?
Group the stable ones in one sentence: nuclear and hydro held steady at around 5% each. Stability reported once frees words for real movement.
Percentages or fractions: which read better?
Mix both: 45% then nearly half. Varied expression of the same numbers demonstrates Lexical Resource directly.
Master every chart type in the Task 1 samples library.